Folding ladder



Nov. 14, 1933. E. BRESLOW FOLDING LADDER Filed July 19, 1932 3Shegts-Sheet l INVZNTOZZ Zdwzzm 571252710 Nov. 14, 1933. E. BRESLOW1,935,349

FOLDING LADDER Filed July 19, 1952 3 Shets-Sheet 2 IN VI, T012 EdwardE)" 2w M/ZWM Nov. 14, 1933. BRESLQW 1,935,349

FOLDING LADDER Filed July 19, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Burma/r7012 Emmi,Breslmrr Patented NOV-- 1 v 1,935,349 j L EOLDIN LAI DER i; Breslow,Camden, N. Appellant July 19,. 1932.1 Serial No. 623,311 a Q CIaiins.(c1. 228 -24) My invention relates to new and. useful improvements in afolding ladder, and has for one of its objects to generally improve theconstruction of, such devices whereby parts maybe folded upon-oneanotherinto', compact form and which when extended for use willbestron'g and durable. Another object of the-invention is'to provide afolding step ladder in which the'sections of both 'theb'race andstepportion of the ladder are foldable but inseparableinprder to producea relatively small compact .parcel which Ali/i11 occupy a small amountof space lengthwise and'thereby permit easy transportation.

Y A further object'of the invention is toprovide one; section of :aladder element withaT-shaped sockets; the stem; portions ofwhich'project outsid'efof the edges) of the ladder element stileswhereby when the sections of a ladder element are f0lded,'-saidstiles'will parallel one another;

2% "Another object of the invention is to provide a ladder havingT-shaped socke'ts wherein the outer ends of the socket stems are formedby generally U"-shaped straps mounted-on the outeredges of the stilesof-one section with-which register'a outer ends of the socketstemsbeing-of suflicient tior'is will be parallel even' though the steps pro-1 6 j ectb e'yond the outer edges of the stiles.

A further object of the invention is to apply my inventi dnt o anordinary step ladder or :a foldablev straight ladderhav'ing steps or afoldable straight -ladder'havingrun's. r still further object of theinvention is; to pro- -vide unique means for fastening the'sections' ofthe 'iladder in an, extended position; With these'andflother ends inview, this 'inven-. ticn co'nsists 'in the'det'ails of -con'structionand combination of elements hereinafterset forth andthenspecificallydesignated by the claims."

' In order that'those skilled inthe art to which this invention,ap'pertains may understand how to make and use the same, Iwilldesc'ribe its construction in detaiLjreferring by numerals to theaccompanying-drawings"forming a part of this "application, in which:-' f

Fig. l is a perspective View of a step ladder illustrating oneembodiment of my -invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view partly .in elevation and partly in spreader.V, v I

Fig. 3- is an enlarged perspective view'of one of the socket plates.

bodied, 10 and .llrrepresent the step. portion'and rung orthe'equivalentof the other'section, the

be braced by cross rods located directly beneath section, showing oneform of 'Fig. 4 isan enlarged'side elevation of the step ri ustratedinFig. 1, shown in a folded condition; Fig; 5 is a longitudinal sectionalView of Fig.4.

Fig. 6 is a perspective-view on a reduced scale e V of a straight stepladde'rcons'tructed in accordance with my invention with parts brokenaway a to clearlyillustrate details of construction.

Fig. '7'isaviewsi'mi1arto Fig.6, of a ladder- 'havingrungs in lieu ofthe "steps;

In carrying out my invention-as"herein-'em brace respectiyely both ofwhich are pivotally connected to the top or platform .12;.by suitablebrackets 13. andpivoting means 14, such'as bolts or their equivalents.If found desirable, *wea'r (plates 15 may be interposed between thebrackets and contiguousparts of the brace and step por- 7 tion,particularly when the. latter is made/oi.

wood.v Q a The step portion 10 is'made' up of a numberiof sections, and.inthe particularembodiment herein illustrated, I have shown said stepportion as comprising two sections 16 and 17 and each section includes apair of stiles 18 between and to which are secured a suitable numbe'rofsteps19. While it is not absolutely essentiaLyI prefer that inthe stepladder the stiles .diverge from their upper ends toward their lowerends. q 1 7 The stiles and the steps, if found desirable,may

85. each step andthese brace rods may be in thesform of long boltsfhavingnuts threaded on one orboth ends thereof.

' Each stile of one 'of the step portion sections,'for

' edge of the stile is mounted a U-shaped strap 24 having itsv ends bentoutwardly to receivefa'sten' ing devices 25 by which said strap is.,secured,;to the stile. The open end of thisU-shaped strap 1'00 alignsor ,registerswiththe open end of therstem 23 of the socket and forms anextension 26:of saidstem." V

In forming the socket 21, considerable. of "the stile material tisvremoved and in orderito v strengthenthe same,.I'provide a plate 27;Fig.1 3, including'a-panel 28 to engage the inner face. of

a stile'and from the side edges of which project flanges 29' toengage'the edges oftheistile... In

the panel is formed an opening 30 corresponding 11G the upper part ofthe panel partially severed y from one of the flanges 29 and bentoutwardly to produce a triangular shapedllip 32 to overlie the same stepunder which the tongue is positioned, and a fastening device 33 ispassed through the lip, the coacting step and the tongue. The fasteningdevices 25 used for attaching the straps24 to the stiles may also beused for fastening the strengthening plates in position.

The other section, as 17, of the step portion 1 has a bar 34, which maybe in the form of a ladder rung extending crosswise between the stiles18 of said section 17 and spaced from the adjacent or uppermoststep 19of said section 17 a distance approximately equal to the spacing of thesteps because-said bar is to underlie thelower step of the section 16when the ladder is extended or in an open position.

Thebar 34'is enclosed within the sockets, including thestraps 24, andprevents separation of one section from the other but permits one of thesections to be rotated orswung in a semicircle and moved laterallywithin the limitations of the sockets and also moved longitudinallywithin the heads of the sockets for purposes which wil be-presently andmore fully described.

The section 16 of .the'step portion also has a bar35, which may be inthe form of a rung, extending crosswisebetween the two stiles of saidsection and preferably underlies the second step 'fromthe bottom of saidsection although this position is not compulsory. By passing saidzbar 35under a step, said bar is less likely to interfere in any way with theuse of the ladder;

Theends of the bar 35 project beyond or outside of the outer flat orside faces of the stiles 18 of said step section 16 andxprovideprojections 36 for registration with notches 37 in the inner or normallyupper ends of the'stiles 18 of the step section17, and when the.projections 36 are seated in the notches 37, the rod 34 will be in thenormally upper ends of the heads 22 of the sockets 21, therebypreventing rotary 'or swingingv movementof the lower section 17 relativeto the upper section 16. 1

In order to prevent the stiles from splitting due to the notch ends,plates 38 which are U-shaped in cross section and therefore have flanges39 are placed over the outside side faces of the normally upper ends ofthe stiles'and said plates have notches 40 in their normally'upper edgescorresponding with the notches 37 of the normally upperends of thestiles.

Bails -41 are hinged'to the normally upper ends of the stiles of thesection 17 by means of fastening devices 42 which. pass through eyes atthe ends of the bails through the flanges of. the plates 38, andedgewise through the stiles for securing together all the coactingparts. By this arrangement, the. bails can swing over the normally upperends of the stiles crosswise of the notches .37

- cross bar portions of said bails are provided with offsets. orinwardly projecting bends 43 which because of the spring material fromwhich the bails are made will have a certain amount of resiliency topermit them to be forced over the projections 36.

Like the step portion of the ladder, the brace 11 is made of twosections 44 and 45, each section including a pair of stiles 46 betweenwhich 7 are mounted a plurality-of bars 47, 48, 49, 50 and 51, all ofwhich may be in the form of ladder rungs but one of them, as 49, is thecross bar forregistration with the sockets and component parts formed inthe stiles of the upper section 44 identically the same as thatdescribed in connection with the step portion of the ladder and all ofthe other parts being identical, the same numerals will be used onsimilar parts-and by referenceto Fig. 4, in particular, it will beobvious that it is the ends of the rung or bar 43 that becomes theprojections 36.

bracecan also be used as a ladder, but of a different type.

Since the cross bars in thebrace are consider,-

ably smaller in diameter than the widthof the stiles, the straps formingportions of the socket stems or the stem extensions of the socketsin thebrace, the loop portions of said straps may be much shorter than thoseused-in connection with the step portion of the ladder. This is due tothe fact that as soon as'the bar 49 is outside of the outer edge of thebar section 44, the bars'50 and 51 can be brought into contact with theouter edges of the stiles of saidupper brace section to bring the stilesof both sections into parallelism when one section is foldedupon theother as in Figs. 4 and 5. I e 3 In order to make the ladder exceedinglystrong, all of the cross bars, whether used as rungs or otherwise,mayi-be fastenedby suitable securing means 52, such as boltspassingedgewise through the stiles and through the ends of thebars ;within thestiles.

Any suitablespreader may be used for holding the step portion and thebracein separatedposipivoted to the step portion as at,56 and the otherpair pivoted to the brace as at 5'7, while adjacent ends of both pairsof leversgare pivoted on-a-rod 58 surrounded by; a sleeve '59. withsprings 60 between theends of the sleeve and the levers of acontiguouspain In order to hold-the levers in an expanded condition againstaccidental'dise placement, onepair of the levers is provided withindentations 61 for engagement by projections 62 on the other pair oflevers While the levers will remain expanded under ordinary or normal.conditions, a small amount of extra iorcewilldisengage the projectionsfrom the indentations and errnit the spr ader to be collapsed, therebyclosingup the step portion and br-aceof the ladder relative toeachother. I

In Fig. 6, I have shown a modification of the invention adapting it touse'as a straight. ladder having steps and therefore is identical-withthe steppo-rtion of the ladder illustrated in Figs. .1, 4 and 5, withthe exception that the top or platform 12 is immovably fixed to the topsection-inste'ad -o't said-top sectionleeing pivotally con--ne'c'ztedito the platform or'top Theparts for making the ladder a'foldable one-being identically the same as thosefused in" connectionwith the step portionof the step ladder, the same referencenumeralsareapplied. l 5

A further modification is illustrated in-:Fig. '7, wherein rungs areu'sedin' place of the steps shown in the modification illustrated inFig. 6, and therefore said modification-illustrated in *Fig. 7; is.similar to thebrace of'the step ladder shown in Fig. '1; with theexception that the top or platform is entirely eliminated, although. itwill A be obvious that such platform. or top l could be utilizedifdesired and it is to be understood that 'where parts' areinterchangeable on the diiferentiormssaid partscan be used or left offaccording :tothe desiresoit the person vbuilding onusing sucha ladder. JI I Since-the structure shown" in'Fig. I 7; is similar to the brace of.the step 'ladden the same-numerals are usedj to designate similar-partsand 'it' will 'be obvious to persons skilled in this art that-any numberof rungs may be used in each of the sections and; that :the-rungs andstepsiare.

equivalents-wherever. they are used as supports for apersonclimbingthe'ladder. '1' While-Ihave.illustrated the various forms of myinventionas embodying onlytwo sections in any foldable-element ofaladden'it willbe readily -.-understoodlithat" additional sections may'be added andi the construction and operation lWil].

be"the. same, .although the sections will have tofoldinzig'zagfashiong-Assuminghthat the ladder is iol'ded as :shown 7 in Figs; 4and5, and hisdesired to 'set the same up? for use 'or unfoldit tolplace it in acondition such as shown in:Fig'.:.L- then'the lower. sections arerotated and at the" same time movedlaterally:

until the-cross lbars 'or'rungs enclosed inithe sockets are moved intothe heads of the sockets wh'eresaid bars-6r:rungs Will drop intothelower until the cross bars or rungs within the sockets are seated in theupper endsof the socket heads and the projections 36 are seatedin thenotches 37. The interengaging of the parts in this manner will preventthe sections of a ladder element from rotating relative to one anotherproviding neither sectionis first moved longitudinally and in order tohold'the sections against longitudinal movement the bails are swungoverthe projections 36 thereby temporarily holding all of the sectionstogether. Where theladder is of the step ladder type as shown in Fig. 1,the two elements 10 and 11 may now be held in outstretched condition asshown in Fig. 1, by properly manipulating the spreader 53 until in itsfully extended condition.

Byreversing the operations above outlined for unfolding theladder or anyladder element, thesamemay be folded up into. a shape such as suggestedby Figs. i and 5, although it is to be understood that where the ladderis of a form rotatably to permit said lower section to be 1 triangularshaped lip formed by partially severing exact. details of constructionas herein shown, as

these may be varied within the'limitsof [the "appended claims-withoutdeparting from the spirits of 1:15 invention.

Having thus fully descrlbed my invention; what I claim 5 as newan'oluseful is 1. A folding-step ladder comprising a top, a 7 stepportion and a brace'both pivoted to said, I

topand each including two sections, one sec- 'tionhaving T-shapedsockets,'-projections exable Within the sockets to permit longitudinal,

lateral and rotary movements of one section relative to the other, andbails pivotally. connected to saidiother section for swinging movementcrossiwise ofthe notches for engagementwith the projections when the.latter are seated in thenotches,

said bails having offset portions for frictional'e'nga'gement. with theprojections.

-72; The-structure set forth in claim 1, incombination with plates forstrengthening the socketed portions of the ladderlsectio'ns and havingcut away portions therein corresponding to the shape of said sockets,and other plates partially surroundingthe section of the ladder havingnotches Ltherein, said lastv named plates having cut awayportionscorresponding in shape to the notches/7' i i3.;Avladdercomprising an upper section consisting of stiles and steps,said stiles having T- socket stemsterminate with the space within thestraps communicatingwith the stems of the sockets andforming extensionsof said stems, a cross bar mounted in the stiles withtheir'endsextending beyond the-outer side faces thereof to formprojections, a'lower section also consisting of; stiles and steps, saidstiles having notches :in their normally upper ends for registrationwith the projections, a cross bar mounted in and extending between thestiles and embraced by the sockets and the'straps whereby said lowersection may be moved longitudinally, laterally and positioned endwiserelative .to the upper section or folded upon in parallelism to saidupper section, and means fordisposition crosswise of the notches and forengagement with the projections 1 when the latter are seated in thenotches to tem porarily hold the ladder sections against acci dentaldisplacement.

' 4. The structure set forth in claim 3, in combination with'platessecured to the ends of the stiles in the region of the sockets, each ofsaid 7,

apart of the panel from the upper portion of one of the flanges andbending saidpart of the panel outward along a diagonal line, andatopsecured to the upper ends of the stiles of the upper section.

5. A ladder comprising an upper section consisting of stiles and rungs,said stiles having T- shaped sockets formed therein adjacent an endthereof with the stems or" said sockets opening to an edge of thestilesand with the heads runa ning longitudinally of the stiles so thatthe'longitudinal centers of said-heads are in imaginary linesintersecting the axes of all of the rungs and spaced from the next tothe lowermost rung a distance substantially equal to the spacing betweenthe several rungs, U-shaped straps secured to the same edges of thestiles where the socket stems are left open with the spaces within thestraps communicating with the stems of said sockets and formingextensions of said stem, projections formed on the ends of the saidnextlto the lowermost rung and extending beyond the outer side faces ofthe stiles, a lower section also consisting of stiles and rungs, one ofsaid rungs beingsurrounded by the sockets and straps whereby said lowersection may be moved longitudinal,- ly, laterally and rotatably topermit said lower section to be positioned endwise relative to the uppersection or folded upon in parallelism to said upper section, the ends ofthe stiles adjacent the socketed rung having notches formed in the endedges thereof for registration with the projections, andmeans carried bythe notched ends of the stiles of said lower ladder section fordisposition crosswise of the notches and for engagement with theprojections when the latter are seated in the notches to temporarilyhold the ladder sections against accidental movement relative to oneanother.

6. A step ladder comprising a. top, a step portion and a brace bothpivoted to said top and each including upper and lower sections, both ofthe sections of the ladder portion consisting of stiles and steps, across bar underlying one of the steps of the upper section of the stepportion and mounted in the stiles with its ends protruding beyond theouter side faces to form projections, the stiles of the said uppersection of the ladder portion. having T-shaped notches formed thereinbelow another step, U-shaped straps secured to'edges of the stiles ofsaid upper section of the ladder portion and forming extensions of thesockets beyond the edges of the stiles,

a cross bar mounted in the stiles of the lower section of the ladderportion and enclosed with,- in the sockets and straps to preventseparation of the sections while permitting the lower sectiontobemovedlongitudinally, laterally and rotatably relative to the uppersection for folding and opening the sections relative to each other, thestiles of the lower section of said ladder portion having notches formedin their normally upper ends for registration with the projections, andmeans carried by said normally upper, ends of the stiles of said lowersection of the ladder portion for engagement with the projections'totemporarily hold the sections against accidental movement relative toone another, bothof the sections of the brace-including stiles andrungs,the stiles of the upper section of'the brace having T-shaped socketsformed therein, U-shaped straps secured to edges of the stiles of theupper section of said brace and forming extensions of.

said sockets, said sockets andistraps embracing one of the rungs of thelower section ofzsaid brace whereby the two sections are permanentlyconnected together and-the lower section is per mitted to be movedlongitudinally, laterally and rotatably for opening and folding thesections :of said brace, projections formed by ends of one of the rungsin the upper section of the brace protruding beyond the outer side facesof the stiles, the stiles of the lower section having notches formed inthe normally upperends" for registration with said projections, andmeans .carried by said normally upper ends of the stiles of the lowersection for engagement with the projections to temporarily preventaccidental EDWARD BRESLOW.

